Visual patterns in software (Score 1)

That's very interesting, and reminds me of a project I worked on in the late 1980s. I used a graphic analyser to check on the status of an 8 bit embedded processor. The tool would clip onto the pins of the CPU chip. The vector display would graph the data value on one axis vs. memory location on the other axis. The resulting image at first appeared to be an abstract scribble, but after a short time one could easily tell by the pattern what routine the processor was running, and if it had gotten stuck in an error handling loop. We then built another diagnostic tool that would display the RF noise spectrum emitted by the CPU, which did not require a direct connection. As in the vector display, one could discern the difference in the pattern between normal and faulty operation.